Clashes along Sudan border kills 22

File photo shows South Sudanese men look at shrapnel from one of the bombs which hit El Nar oil field.

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At least 22 troops have been killed in clashes along the Sudan and South Sudan border, as tensions between the two neighbors continue to escalate.
According to reports, the soldiers were killed in a firefight between rival troops on Wednesday at a tense border river near the town of Meiram.
South Sudan officials say the clashes broke out after its troops were shelled while trying to collect water from the river that divides the two sides, AP reported.
Tension between the two neighboring states escalated after the South seized the oil-rich town of Heglig along with its oil fields last week.
The takeover prompted Sudan to pull out of crisis talks led by the African Union. The talks are aimed at resolving the protracted dispute over oil, border demarcation, contested areas and citizenship issues between the two Sudans.
The UN Security Council has discussed imposing sanctions on the African neighbors if they do not stop the violent clashes.
South Sudan became independent on July 9, 2011, after decades of conflict with the north. The new oil-rich nation is one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.
MR/JR/HGH